Prepare for the New Year with UK Finance Insights

Prepare for the New Year with UK Finance Insights

Agenda1. What’s happening in the finance industry?2. Bing Ads audience3. What happened last Winter in the Finance vertical

and how can you optimise for the New Year?

Microsoft Confidential

Consumers continue to feel confident with their financial situation this year

According to Lightspeed GMI & Mintel, consumers are generally feeling OK about their current finances. Interestingly, almost ¼ of consumers say they are in a healthy financial state.

Healthy – I have money left at the end of the month for a few luxuries or to add to my savings

OK – I get by, but there’s not a lot left by the time the basics are taken care of

Tight – I’m making ends meet, but only just

Struggling – I’m in danger of falling behind with bills or loan repayments

In trouble – I’ve missed loan repayments or household bills

24%

45%

22%

6%

2%

“How would you general ly describe your fin -ancial si tuation at the moment?”

% agreement

Source : Lightspeed GMI/Mintel, July 2015. Base: 16+ internet users. Numbers do not sum to 100% due to rounding

Half of consumers say their finances are the same as a year ago, whilst over a quarter believe they are better off.

6%

20%

50%

17%7%

“How would you describe your finances compared to a year ago?” (%)

I’m a lot better-off I’m a little bit better-offAbout the same I’m a little bit worse-offI’m much worse-off

How does this compare to last year?

Source : Lightspeed GMI/Mintel, July 2015. Base: 16+ internet users.

We’re financially optimistic for the futureCompared to the start of the calendar year, confidence has slightly shifted with consumers feeling OK with their financial situation in the coming year. An encouraging sign for the economy.

Source : Lightspeed GMI/Mintel, Jan & July 2015. Base: 16+ internet users

30%52%

15%3%

I feel pretty confident that I’ll be ok

I’m concerned, but should be fine

I’m really worried

Things are already really bad, they can’t get a lot worse

“How do you feel about your financial situation over the coming year or so?”

+2pts from Jan-

July 2015 -1pts

-1pts

No change

According to GMI/Mintel, purchasing financial products online via a PC or mobile device continues to be the most popular method. It is only mortgages that tend to be bought in person or over the phone.

How do consumers purchase financial products?

Source : Lightspeed GMI/Mintel, Jan & July 2015. Base: 18+ internet users

Methods used to arrange Financial products in the last 3 years, April 2015

Agenda1. What’s happening in the finance industry?2. Bing Ads audience3. What happened last Winter in the Finance vertical

and how can you optimise for the New Year?

Financial Reach. .Microsoft has a strong cross over with consumers in the Finance category in the UK

Microsoft’s reach of Financial category internet users

Source : comScore Segment Metrix August 2015. Finance - All

Banking

39%

82% 84%

37%

80%

42%

Percentage reach of total unique visitors in the Finance category

38%

82%

Financial informati

on

News/Research

Personal Finance

53%

89%

Taxes

Percentage reach of total unique visitors in the Finance category

UK Bing Ads Audience. .Compared to Google, Bing Ads audience are more likely to be:

35-44 years old

Men aged +55 Women aged 35-

44

Single Person Two Person Households

Source: comScore Media Metrix, UK, August 2015, custom measure created using comScore indices and duplication

Mid-to-high income.£35-50k or more

annually

Agenda1. What’s happening in the finance industry?2. Bing Ads audience3. What happened last Winter in the Finance

vertical and how can you optimise for the New Year?


MethodologyMethodology• UK Market• Top 10,200 Finance search queries

based on volume• Analysis period: Dec 2014 – May 2015

(inclusive)

Objectives• Identify Finance & Insurance related New

Year trends• What does the Bing searcher look like?• What are their behaviours?• Advertiser opportunities

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8 Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

Investments

All Up Finance

Credit cards

Insurance

Loans

Internal: Volume of searches indexed to average monthly volume in 2015 on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, all devices.

2015

Tax

Annual search query peaks for Finance sub-verticals on Bing Ads in the UK

Mal

eFe

mal

e

Older

Loans

Banking

Insurance

Credit Cards

Investments

Bing Finance vertical average

50 years old40 years

old

Investment queries skew towards older males, whilst Banking related queries are searched predominately by females.

What does the average Finance searcher look like on Bing Ads?

Internal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015, Bubble size = volume

45% Male

55% Male

50% Male

Accou

nting

Banki

ng

Broker

ages

Credit C

ards

Credit R

eport

ing

Debt C

onsol

idatio

n

Finan

cial P

lannin

g

Insura

nce

Invest

ments

Loans

Other F

inance Ta

x0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

24% 24% 20% 19% 18% 16% 15% 15% 15% 10% 10% 2%

12% 12% 13% 8% 10% 13% 13% 13% 13%6% 10%

63% 64% 67% 73% 72% 71% 72% 72% 72%84% 79%

95%

Mobile Tablet PC

Traffi

c by

Dev

ice

Which Finance categories were the most mobile?Accounting, Banking and Brokerages see the highest share of searches from mobile devices, whilst Tax queries predominately come from PC.

Internal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015

The role of mobile: Generic vs Branded Keywords

All Banking Credit CardsInsuranceInvestments Loans Tax0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

21% 20% 20%18% 18%

28%24%

15% 15% 14% 14% 13%

21%

7%

Generic BrandedFin-ance

On mobile, generic searches accounted for a higher percentage of search traffic than branded. Nearly 30% of mobile traffic related to Loans are generic searches. Interestingly, Tax related searches on mobile see very few brand related searches.

Make sure you optimise your keywords for mobile devices to ensure you stay relevant during the consumer journey. Focus on generic keywords for Tax and Investments on mobile.

TipInternal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015

Mobile share of traffic by category and search query type (Brand vs. Generic)

The role of mobile for insurance, loans & savingsFor Personal and Short-term Loans, over 40% of searches that occur on a smartphone use branded keywords vs. generic keywords.

Auto

Insu

ranc

e

Hea

lth &

Life

Insu

ranc

e

Hom

e In

sura

nce

Pet I

nsur

ance

Trav

el In

sura

nce

Mor

tgag

es

Pers

onal

loan

s

Shor

t-te

rm lo

ans

Savi

ngs

Insurance Loans In-vest-

ments

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

19%

27%

13%18% 16%

20% 17%

39%

8%14%

11%15% 15%

12%

19%

41% 41%

8%

Generic BrandedInternal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015

Mobile share of traffic by category and search query type (Brand vs. Generic)

£0.95

£1.07

£0.87

100%

124%

161%

Average Finance CPCs

Average finance CPC by device, UK Bing & Yahoo Sites, Oct 2015

Finance CTRs vs. desktop

Average CTR for top queries in finance, indexed to desktop, UK Bing & Yahoo Sites, Oct 2015

How do Finance KPIs on Bing Ads compare between devices?

Internal Microsoft Data, 2015

Although CTRs are slightly lower, Bing Ads UK is cheaper than Google AdWords in Finance

Average CTR

5.44%

4.03%

£1.09

Average Cost-per-click

*Sample of the Marin Global Search Index, customers buying in GBP, Q2 2015 indexed vs. Q2 2014. All devices, partner network excluded.

-11%£0.97

Internal Source: Comparison of average mainline CTR for Finance, UK Bing & Yahoo sites, PC & Tablet (Q2-2015)

Combined ExtensionsFor Finance, combining ad extensions on PC + Tablet results

in an increased average CTR

Sitelinks

Call Extension + Sitelinks

Location Extension + Metered Call Extension + Sitelinks

Enhanced Sitelinks + Location Extension + Metered Call Extension

10.9%

12.0%

12.3%

19.5%

Insurance

What does the average Insurance searcher look like on Bing Ads?

Mal

eFe

mal

e

Older

Home & Renters

TravelHealth & Life

Pet

Auto

Bing Finance vertical Average

Size of bubble = volume

Auto & Health Insurance queries skew towards males, whilst Pet Insurance related queries are searched predominately by females. Travel insurance queries tend to be searched by those +45 year olds.

40 years old

50 years old

45 years old


33% Male

58% Male

50% Male

Source: GWI Q2 2015. Base: UK internet averageUK Internet average base (indexed)

134107

159

105

213

110150

109

AutoInsurance

Home & Renters

Insurance

Health & LifeInsurance

TravelInsurance

Bing searchers are twice more likely to buy Health & Life insurance products than Google searchers in the next 6

months

Insurance Auto Insurance & Registration plates launch

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01550%

60%

70%

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90%

100%

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130%

140%

150%

Auto insurance search volume increases each Monday in the run up to the new plate launch

1

Auto insurance begins the first Monday of the new year, up +26% for the Dec-May period

2

Volume steadily rises 5 weeks prior to launch, before peaking +38% on launch day

3

Volume significantly drops on Monday 6th April, coinciding with Easter Monday. It quickly picks up on Tuesday 7th, indexing at 117%

Plates launch


Indexed volume against the daily average for the period

..Who’s searching for Auto Insurance and when are they searching?

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%

11%18%

31% 28%

10%

% T

raffi

c by

de

mog

raph

ic

Who’s looking for Auto Insurance?

Auto insurance has a slight skew towards Males and almost 60% of searchers are aged 35-64

53%

47%

Gender

When are they searching?

The start of the working week are key days for Auto Insurance as traffic tails off towards the

weekend

Monday Tuesday WednesdayThursday Friday Saturday Sunday0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

% W

eekl

y tr

affic



Although volume drops at the weekends, mobile activity picks up on the weekend particularly for generic searches

Top

Tips

Ensure your campaigns are set up to catch weekend searches on mobile devices through device targeting and bid boosts

Branded Generic Branded GenericWeekday Weekend

13% 16% 15% 20%

75% 72% 67% 63%

13% 12% 17% 16%

Mobile PC Tablet



4 101 7 13 16 19 22 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22Date 02/03/2015 03/03/2015 04/03/2015 05/03/2015 06/03/2015 07/03/2015 08/03/2015 09/03/2015

Plates launch

Hourly view of auto insurance related searches the week of the new plates launch1

Internal Source: 1Volume of searches with auto insurance intent on Bing and Yahoo sites relative to the average hourly volume of 2nd-9th March 2015

• 8-10pm on day of plates launch: 2X

• 4pm Saturday 7th: 1.8X• Midday Saturday 7th: 1.6X

• 6-10pm on day plates launch: 3X

• 7-8pm Monday 9th: 3X

• 1-2pm on day plates launch: 3X

• 12-1pm on Monday 9th: 3X

A closer look at the launch week

Hot Hours

3X 3X

First Monday after launch

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday Saturday

Sunday

Monday

3.4X3X


Prepare your auto insurance campaigns from JanuaryEnsure your campaigns are optimised for the New Year. Be front of mind for consumers in their decision journey, particularly when CTR is at it’s highest & CPC at it’s lowest for the January period.

December January February March April May£1.95

£2.00

£2.05

£2.10

£2.15

£2.20

£2.25

12.0%

13.0%

14.0%

15.0%

16.0%

17.0%

18.0%

Auto Insurance

CTR CPC


Geographic location of Auto Insurance searchers?

Internal Source: Bing Ads for period 2nd – 9th March 2015. Excludes volume lower than 1%

24%

Brand & Endorsements CTA Delivery Incentives

Token Ad Quality Token Ad Quality Token Ad Quality™ º collect � same day delivery �official � shop � home delivery �Brand Term � get � next day delivery �recommended º buy � free p&p º® º view � free delivery �as seen on tv � compare º free returns ºnumber 1 � call º free shipping �© � find � enquire � see º check º

How to read an ad copy heat map

� Strong impact, rarely usedº Strong impact, sometimes used

� Strong impact, but used often� Fair impact, rarely usedº Fair impact, sometimes used� Fair impact, but used often� Limited impact, but rarely usedº Limited impact, but sometimes

used� Limited impact, but used often

Individual Tokens

Ad quality explanations

Top Tip: The greener and fuller the circle, the more likely your ad will stand out

How well tokens impact your ad

quality

How many other

advertisers are actively using

the token

We’ve looked at two dimensions in Bing Ads:1 2

. .

Auto InsuranceAd Copy Analysis

Brand Endorsements CTADynamic

Inclusion and Special Symbols

Pricing and value perception

driversSpeed User Needs USP

Token Ad Quality Token Ad Quality Token Ad Quality Token Ad Quality Token Ad Quality Token Ad Quality Token Ad QualityVoted Best � Switch � + � Great price � Immediatel

y � Lady � Instant Cover �

® º Purchase � & � Extra º Same day º Provisional � Cashback ºRecommended º View º ! � Cheap � Minutes º Bad credit º Great Offers ºRight � Find � {param2: � Deal � Quick � No claims º Courtesy Car ºOfficial � Buy � {keyword

: º Free � Mins � New driver º No fees ºLeader � Call � {param1: � Save � Early º Van � Deal �Unbeatable º See � ? º Discount � Today � 4x4 � Experts �Top � Cover � Low prices º Fast � Women � Offer �Award Winning � Now � Savings º Sameday � 3rd party � Short term �As seen on TV � Apply � Brand term º In seconds � Over 50 � Trusted �™ � Enquire � Offer � Instant � Bike � Today �© � Pick � Bargain º Annual � Right �Brand term � Contact º Affordable � Premium � Welcome º Look º Motorcycle � Reward º Visit º Over 65 � Best � Protect º Amazing � Try º Unbeatable � Check � Miles � Compare � Get � Compare � Get �


Ensure budgets account for higher volume at the start

of the week

Try testing different Ad Copy tokens to differentiate your

ads from competitors

Consider bidding up on mobile for

weekends, particularly for accounts with

generic keywords

How to make the most of Bing Ads

InsuranceTravel Insurance

Travel Insurance takes off from the first week of January

New Year’s

Travel Insurance related queries start to uplift from Jan 5th, typically on the first day back in the office. The first week of February sees the highest peak of the period, as families prepare themselves for the half-term break. Generic searches peak as high as +90%, versus brand related queries which are up +32% during this time.

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0150%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

160%

180%

200%

GenericBrandedAll



..Who’s searching for Travel Insurance and when are they searching?

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

8%14%

27%34%

15%

% T

raffi

c by

de

mog

raph

ic

Who’s looking for Travel Insurance?

6 out of 10 searches comes from those aged 35-64 whilst there is a very slight weighting towards the Female gender.

49%

51%

Gender

Monda

y

Tuesd

ay

Wedne

sday

Thurs

day

Frida

y

Satur

day

Sund

ay0%2%4%6%8%

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affic


Tuesday is the most popular day to search, slightly ahead of Monday.


Travel Insurance: What & HowHow are devices being used?

How well will my ads perform?

Approximately one-third of travel insurance searches take place on mobile devices, with

the share increasing at the weekend, particularly for brand searches

CTR remains high throughout March-May. However CPCs are lower in January &

February, so take advantage of these months to market Travel insurance products.

Tip

Ensure you are optimising your campaigns for tablet & mobile which provide a huge amount of travel insurance related searches, particularly at weekends.

Branded Gener ic Branded Gener icWeekday Weekend

16% 12% 19% 14%

68% 71% 60% 63%

16% 18% 21% 23%

Mobile PC Tablet%

Tra

ffic

by d

evice

Decembe

r

Janua

ry

Februa

ryMarc

hApri

lMay

£0.00£0.20£0.40£0.60£0.80£1.00£1.20

14.5%15.0%15.5%16.0%16.5%17.0%17.5%

CTR CPC


Start preparing your campaigns from the start of

the year as searches uplift the

first week of January

For generic campaigns consider

tailoring towards the Gen Y & female

audience

Ensure budget caps account for

increased traffic volumes at the

start of the week


Insurance Health Insurance


..Who’s searching for Health Insurance and when are they searching?

Who’s looking for Health Insurance?

Health insurance skews towards the older pre-retirement age brackets, with those

aged 35-64 making up almost 60% of the traffic.

50%

50%

Gender


The start of the week tends to be more popular when searching for health insurance products.

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%

10%

20%

32%27%

8%% T

raffi

c by

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mog

raph

ic

Monda

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Tuesd

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Wedne

sday

Thurs

day

Frida

y

Satur

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ay0%2%4%6%8%

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Health Insurance: What & HowHow are devices being used?


Health insurance searchers tend to use their mobile devices for generic queries. Whilst the

PC dominates branded related queries.

January to March are key months to capture clicks especially for a relatively low CPC over the period.

Tip

Make sure you capture your health insurance consumers in their initial research stage by bidding up for mobile and tablets, particularly for generic keywords on the weekend.


10%25% 14%

32%

80%65%

70%56%

9% 10% 15% 12%

Mobile PC Tablet%

Tra

ffic

by d

evice

Decembe

r

Janua

ry

Februa

ryMarc

hApri

lMay

£0.00£0.20£0.40£0.60£0.80£1.00£1.20

14.0%

15.0%

16.0%

17.0%

18.0%

CPC CTR


Ensure your campaigns have enough budget from the start of

the year

Monitor any budget caps to ensure

limits are not being hit at the start of the week when volume is at it’s

greatest

Consider the audience skews

when creating your ad copy


Insurance Home, Renters & Property Insurance

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0150%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

160%

180%

200%

Home, Renters & Property Insurance daily trends

New Year’s

After a peak in the 2nd week of December indexed queries continue to drop off during the month. Indexed query volume hits 131% on 5th January – the first Monday of the new year. But a key period is the last week of February when volume hits 155% on the Monday 23rd & 174% on Thursday 26th.




..Who’s searching for Home, Renters & Property Insurance and when are they searching?

Who’s looking for Home Insurance?

Females are more likely to be searching for home insurance whilst almost a third

of searches come from the 35-49 age bracket

47%

53%

Gender


Search volume has an emphasis towards the start of the week which tails off towards the end of the working week & drops drastically at the weekend

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%

8%

18%

32%29%

11%

% T

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sday

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Home, Renters & Property Insurance: What & HowHow are devices being used?


Interestingly the % of traffic for PC is higher for Generic search queries than branded ones.

December – February have a good mix of high CTR’s & relatively low CPC’s over the period. In March CPC’s rise 9% over February whilst CTR

drops.

Tip

Consider increasing bids on mobile & tablet for branded keywords whilst ensuring campaigns are optimised between December & February to capitalise on the low competition before March


BRANDED GENERIC BRANDED GENERICWEEKDAY WEEKEND

14% 12% 19% 14%

73% 77% 64% 72%

13% 11% 17% 14%

Mobile PC Tablet%

TRA

FFIC

BY

DEVI

CE

De-cember

January February March April May10%

11%

12%

13%

14%

£3.90£4.00£4.10£4.20£4.30£4.40£4.50£4.60

CPC CTR

Ensure campaigns are optimised from the start of the year to take advantage

of high volume, strong CTR & low

CPC’s

Consider bid strategies for

mobile & tablet, particularly on brand terms

Remember that a higher proportion of

Females are searching for this type of insurance when writing ad

copy


Loans & Credit Cards

Credit Cards & Loans: Are consumers feeling the squeeze?

Christmas

Consumers search for loans & credit cards in the run up to Christmas as their purse strings start to feel the squeeze. Loans start to drop off the week before Christmas, whilst Credit Cards searches remain high until three days before Christmas. Both products see an uplift in search volume on the first Monday after Christmas when banks start to re-open.

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2/9/2

015

2/11/2

015

2/13/2

015

2/15/2

015

2/17/2

015

2/19/2

015

2/21/2

015

2/23/2

015

2/25/2

015

2/27/2

0150%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

140%

160%

Credit CardsLoans

Internal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015. Search volume indexed to daily average for the entire period.



..Who’s searching for Credit Cards or Loans and when are they searching?

Who’s looking for Credit Cards and Loans ?

Gender


18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+

23%

36%35%28%

Credit cards Loans

% T

raffi

c by

de

mog

raph

ic

50%

50%

50%

50%

Credit Cards Loans

In both categories, 35-49 year olds account for over a third of all searches. Both products are searched equally

amongst Males & Females 0%4%8%

12%16%

17%16%

Credit Cards Loans

% o

f wee

kday

traffi

c

In both categories, searches are spread evenly across days, with Monday & Tuesday taking the

lead.


How are people searching for Credit Cards & Loans?

Branded Gener ic Branded Gener ic Branded Gener ic Branded Gener icWeekday Weekend Weekday Weekend

Credit Cards Loans

13% 19% 17% 24%

0%20% 26% 24% 32%

74% 69% 66%62%

0%

67% 63% 60% 52%

13% 11% 17% 15%

0%

12% 11% 16% 15%

Mobile PC Tablet

% T

raffi

c by

dem

ogra

phic

On weekdays, almost three quarters of credit card searches occur on the PC.

Loans searches skew towards mobile devices, particularly on the weekends.



How well will my Credit Cards & Loans ads perform?CTR & CPC comparison

March sees a strong spike in CTR and CPC for Loans, make sure you find the sweet spot in

January.

December January February March April May£0.42£0.44£0.46£0.48£0.50£0.52£0.54£0.56£0.58£0.60

0.0%

4.0%

8.0%

12.0%

16.0%

20.0%

Credit Cards

CTR CPC

DecemberJanuary February March April May£1.05

£1.10

£1.15

£1.20

£1.25

£1.30

11.6%

12.0%

12.4%

12.8%

13.2%

13.6%Loans

CTR CPC

For Credit Cards, engagement increases from January however CPCs are low the month

before so start preparing your campaigns in December.



Make sure you prepare your

budget early, as we see a last

minute surge in Credit Cards the

week before Christmas


Don’t forget that Credit Cards

remain a popular product over the sales season, and

throughout January

Remember when creating your ad

copy, credit cards skew towards

younger adults whilst loans are

searched by those who are older

Ensure you bid positively for mobile traffic,

adopting extensions where

possible

Mortgages

..Who’s searching for Mortgages and when are they searching?

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+0%10%20%30%40%50%

9%

27%40%

20%4%%

Tra

ffic

by

dem

ogra

phic

Who’s looking for Mortgages?

Unsurprisingly the majority of mortgage searches come from those aged 25-49.

50%

50%

Gender

Monda

y

Tuesd

ay

Wedne

sday

Thurs

day

Frida

y

Satur

day

Sund

ay0%2%4%6%8%

10%12%14%16%18%

% o

f w

eekl

y tr

affic


Mortgage searches skew towards the start of the week. Although the daily range is fairly narrow, the

weekend is certainly a less popular time for searching.


Mortgages: What & HowHow are devices being used?


Interestingly, traffic by device is on parity for both branded & generic searches. During the weekend, almost half of searches come from

mobile devices.

As engagement increases from January – in the form of user CTR so does auction

competition. However monthly CTR remains high over the period – from a low of 12% in

April to 14% in February.

Tip

Consider increasing mobile & tablet bids at weekends to account for the change in device usage & adopting relevant extensions to increase brand presence on screen.


17% 18% 25% 25%

71% 70% 56% 56%

12% 12% 19% 19%

Mobile PC Tablet%

Tra

ffic

by d

evice

DecemberJanuary February March April May£0.00

£0.20

£0.40

£0.60

£0.80

£1.00

£1.20

10%

11%

12%

13%

14%

CTR CPC


Consider your mobile & tablet

strategy, adopting extensions where

relevant.

Take advantage of the low CPC in the

new year by bidding up to the top page position


Savings

Source: TGI GB 2015 Q3. (Base for index: UK population average)

UK general population average (indexed)

149101

Average value of savings and investments

Bing searchers are more likely to save more and take greater interest in advertising for financial services.

I look with interest at advertising for financial

services£30,550

£24,730

12/1/2014

12/6/2014

12/11/2014

12/16/2014

12/21/2014

12/26/2014

12/31/2014

1/5/2015

1/10/2015

1/15/2015

1/20/2015

1/25/2015

1/30/2015

2/4/2015

2/9/2015

2/14/2015

2/19/2015

2/24/2015

3/1/2015

3/6/2015

3/11/2015

3/16/2015

3/21/2015

3/26/2015

3/31/2015

4/5/2015

4/10/2015

4/15/2015

4/20/2015

4/25/2015

4/30/2015

5/5/2015

5/10/2015

5/15/2015

5/20/2015

5/25/2015

5/30/20150%

50%

100%

150%

200%

250%

300%

350%

400%

450%

When do Bing searchers start to think about saving?

New Year’s

Whilst savings related queries over-indexes at the start of December by X2 the daily average, volume drops & does not spike until the new year. In February queries increase by X4, whilst there is a second surge at the start of March and a last minute peak before and after the tax year, perhaps as people look to fully utilise the ISA limits.

End of tax year

Budget announcement

Internal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015. Search volume indexed to daily average for the entire period.



..Who’s searching for Savings and when are they searching?

Who’s looking for Savings? When are they searching?

Gender 55

%45%

18-24 25-34 35-49 50-64 65+0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

4%8%

20%

37%

29%

TRAF

FIC

BY

DEM

OG

RAPH

IC

Those who are male and older tend to search for saving related products, a

demographic who are mostly likely to have a disposable income.

Monda

y

Tuesd

ay

Wedne

sday

Thurs

day

Frida

y

Satur

day

Sund

ay0%2%4%6%8%

10%12%14%16%18%20%

% t

raffi

c

Tuesday is the most popular day to search for Saving related products, accounting for 18% of traffic. This is closely followed by Monday & Wednesday.

Internal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015.


Savings: What & HowHow are devices being used?


Tip


7% 8% 10% 10%

74% 77% 68% 71%

19% 16% 23% 19%

Mobile PC Tablet%

Tra

ffic

by d

evice

The majority of savings search volume comes from the PC across weekdays and weekends.

On the weekends, a higher proportion of branded searches are coming from tablets.

Decembe

r

Janua

ry

Februa

ryMarc

hApri

lMay

£0.00£0.20£0.40£0.60£0.80£1.00£1.20

14.5%15.0%15.5%16.0%16.5%17.0%17.5%

CTR CPC

February is the strongest month for clicks, but also when CPC is at it’s lowest. January remains a strong month for clicks but is marginally more

expensive than March

Bid up on tablet & adopt extensions where relevant. Ensure campaigns are optimised in January, and consider raising any budge caps for the first 3 months of the year to align with user behaviour.

Internal Source: Based on top search queries on Bing & Yahoo sites in the UK, Dec 2014-May 2015.


Geographic split of consumers looking for Savings

Internal Source: Bing Internal, 30th March to 5th April. Excludes volume lower than 1%

22%

Ensure your AdWords are

imported into Bing Ads to take

advantage of the higher value of

Bing users savings & investments


Ensure budget caps are high

enough to account for the traffic

peaks at the start of the months & end of the tax

year

Consider the 50+ Male skews when writing your ad

copy

Increase bids for major UK cities which generate

the highest traffic volume

Marketing

Prepare for the New Year with UK Finance Insights